About one-quarter of University of California students and employees responding to a survey said they had experienced intimidating or hostile conduct or felt excluded on campus — and 9 percent said it was bad enough to affect their work or study, according to a new report released by the university system.

Although the findings were consistent with those of smaller previous surveys, the number of people reporting problems was concerning, said Gibor Basri, UC Berkeley’s vice chancellor for Division of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, a position created in 2007.

“We don’t like almost a quarter of the population feeling like they’re having a negative experience,” Basri said. “Maybe that’s similar across the country, but that’s still not OK.”

The findings, mirrored at UC Berkeley, came to light Wednesday as part of a systemwide Campus Climate Study. A popular buzzword, campus climate describes attitudes, behaviors and interactions at schools — often, as they affect minority group members.

As at many colleges, UC’s work to make campuses healthier and more harmonious began after an uproar: In early 2010, students protested a series of acts targeting minority groups on UC campuses, including a swastika carved into the door of a Jewish student’s room at UC Davis and an off-campus party at UC San Diego — the so-called Compton Cookout — mocking poor African-Americans.

Early this year, state lawmakers also zeroed in on campus climate in response to an alleged hate crime at San Jose State. Four white freshmen were charged with misdemeanor battery and hate crimes, accused of bullying their black roommate, barricading him in his room and snapping a bicycle lock around his neck.

The Legislature’s Select Committee on Campus Climate will hold the first of four hearings Friday afternoon at San Jose State, led by Assemblywoman Shirley N. Weber, D-San Diego.

Up and down the state, more than 100,000 people from all UC campuses, laboratories and medical centers took the survey, a response of about 27 percent, slightly lower than the recommended 30 percent. The results, by campus and overall, are posted online.

The firm hired to conduct the surveys, Rankin & Associates Consulting, gave no direct comparisons to other schools, UC officials said, but it told them the findings were in line with others they have researched.

Some findings from UC Berkeley’s survey of students, faculty and staff:

— 76 percent were comfortable with the climate on campus (compared to 79 percent across UC).

— 26 percent believed they had experienced exclusionary, intimidating or hostile behavior (compared to 24 percent UC-wide); of those, about one-third said they felt it was based on their race or ethnicity.

— 4 percent of everyone surveyed and 7 percent of undergraduates reported they had received unwanted sexual contact (compared to 3 percent and 6 percent, UC-wide).

— 69 percent of undergraduate students and 79 percent of graduate and professional students were satisfied with their academic experience (compared to 69 percent and 78 percent UC-wide).

Basri said he would soon begin meeting with students and other groups on campus to share the findings and discuss ideas for improvements. Each campus will make its own plans.

The administration will need to support these goals for the initiative to make a difference, said Sadia Saifuddin, UC student regent designate.

The Cal undergraduate — and first Muslim student regent — said she found resistance from her school’s previous administration when she proposed establishing a meditation space on campus to promote interfaith unity.

On Wednesday, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks publicized the survey results and announced the formation of a chancellor’s advisory board to address concerns of minority students on campus among other actions.

“While the Berkeley-specific survey data indicate that we have ample reason to take pride in the progress we have made,” Dirks wrote, “they also make clear that there is much more work to be done.”